Normal telephone connections couple one telephone to another by dialing that telephone number. The caller pays for the telephone call by the minute and if the caller wants to add another person to the conversation, then the caller pays for that connection by the minute as well. The procedure for setting up a conference call depends on the phone company, and conference calling may be different at home than it is at work. As a result, most telephone calls only involve two people and they are kept short.
On the other hand, Voice over IP (Internet Protocol) allows people to make telephone calls through the Internet using their computers instead of their telephones. RTC (Real-Time Communications) platforms support multi-modal communication including Voice over IP and video communication, instant messaging, application sharing, and collaboration. The Internet, Voice over IP, and RTC allow a computer to connect to many other computers all at the same time. Internet usage is not normally paid for based on minutes of usage nor based on how many connections have been set up. These new conditions allow the old-fashioned telephone call to be revolutionized using computers. In theory, computers can allow for calls to be set up automatically, and for details about connections and calls to be displayed to the user in a convenient and powerful way. In practice, voice communications systems on computers are normally designed to be used in the same way a conventional telephone set is used.